Wrapped up in a spiral of bad results, the Lionel Messi’s Paris Saint-Germain has much to fear with the visit of the Bayern Munich from Germany, this Tuesday in the first leg of the round of 16 of the Champions League. The duel in the Parque de los Príncipes will start at 17:00, with Fox Sports television.
The severe defeat suffered on Saturday in Monaco (3-1) in Ligue 1 has put the club in the capital in crisis and it is with wounded morale and so many doubts that it launches the assault on the six-time European champions.
Since the resumption of competition after the 2022 World Cup, PSG have stumbled four times, going unbeaten during the first part of the season, and manager Christophe Galtier has looked fragile when it came to challenging the Germans, despite his place as leader of the championship.
PSG is therefore in danger. The German “Rekordmeister”, who has suddenly recovered after a difficult start to the year and a cascade of injuries (Manuel Neuer, Sadio Mané, Lucas Hernandez, Noussair Mazraoui), has everything to ruin the season at the French club.
The whole challenge for Galtier will be to quickly find the good words and solutions to right a mentally damaged team that also looks physically tired.
The Parisian coach, who in recent weeks seems unable to straighten the ranks, has a lot at stake in this confrontation, in a competition that is the absolute objective of the Qatari ownership of PSG.
In this ocean of doubts and worries, PSG, in crisis after the setback in Monaco, nevertheless saw a small ray of sunshine on Sunday after Kylian Mbappé’s return to training.
Injured on 1 February and billed as three weeks on the sideline with a thigh muscle injury, the World Cup top scorer (8 goals) appears to have recovered, quicker than expected, and has been included in the squad for the match . he could start from the substitute bench.
In addition to Mbappé, PSG is also about to recover two other elements that can change the balance of power, currently clearly in favor of Bayern, who have won two consecutive Bundesliga victories.
Lionel Messi and Marco Verratti, who are absent at Monaco through injury, will be on the pitch at the Parc des Princes on Tuesday, as will Presnel Kimpembe, who has also put an end to his Achilles tendon problems, which could help solidify a defense away from the be waterproof right now.
On the German side, without Sadio Mané, Nagelsmann is relying heavily on attacking Kingsley Coman and Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting, both well known at PSG.
The former, trained at PSG, but protagonist of Monaco in the 2020 final between the two, is perceived by Nagelsmann as a “very important” element and the Cameroonian continues to be very useful, waiting to see Mané, second for the Ballon d’Or Or 2022, behind Karim Benzema, expected for the second leg (March 8).
Both can hurt PSG, for whom a new setback at home would be catastrophic.
Source: Clarin
Jason Root is the go-to source for sports coverage at News Rebeat. With a passion for athletics and an in-depth knowledge of the latest sports trends, Jason provides comprehensive and engaging analysis of the world of sports.